User:JustinePorto/Public toilets in Burkina Faso

Public toilets in Burkina Faso are rare and open defecation is common. Schools often did not have public toilets, and girls felt shame and stress, especially when menstruating, as a result.

Public toilets
A French speaking country, the local words for toilets include toilettes and WC, while the local word for toilet paper is Papier toilette, the word for men's toilet is hommes and the word for women's toilet is femmes.

Public defecation was the norm in many villages in Burkina Faso in the late 2010s. In 2019, WaterAid supported fundraising efforts to encourage prominent residents in villages in Burkina Faso to donate money to support the construction of public toilets. Across the whole of the country, 17% the country had sanitation coverage, and it was in these areas where public and community toilets were located.

Urine diversion toilets are often used in public toilets because they require less use of water. Urine from public toilets in 2007 could be sold for around USD$0.25 per 20-liter jerry can.

In Kossi Province, no schools in 2022 met international water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) standards. Around a third of schools lacked toilets and lacked water for washing. Among girls in schools that did have toilets, many reported feeling shame and stress when they were menstruating; they avoided using school toilets if at all possible as a result. Schoolgirls in a 2022 study said school toilet facilities also needed to be improved to include stall doors and stall locks, water and cleaning supplies.

Regional and global situation impacting public toilets in Burkina Faso
Around 2.5 billion people around the world in 2018 did not have access to adequate toilet facilities. Around 4.5 billion people lacked access to proper sanitation. Public toilet access around the world is most acute in the Global South, with around 3.6 billion people, 40% of the world's total population, lacking access to any toilet facilities. 2.3 people in the the Global South do not have toilet facilities in their residence. Despite the fact that the United Nation made a declaration in 2010 that clean water and sanitation is a human right, little has been done in many places towards addressing this on a wider level.

Public toilets, depending on their design, can be tools of social exclusion. The lack of single-sex women's toilets in developing countries makes it harder for women to participate in public life, in education and in the workplace. In developing countries, unisex public toilets have been a disaster because they make women feel unsafe and fail to consider local religious beliefs. Across Africa, open defecation had social consequences. These included loss of dignity and privacy. It also put women at risk of sexual violence.

An issue in developing countries is toilet access in schools. Only 46% of schools in developing countries have them. Many schools around the world in 2018 did not have toilets, with the problem particularly acute in parts of Africa and Asia. Only one in five primary schools on earth had a toilet and only one in eight secondary schools had public toilets. 344 million children in sub-Saharan Africa did not have a toilet in their home in 2018. The lack of toilet access put these children at risk of water borne diseases.

There are generally two toilet styles in public bathrooms in Africa. One is a traditional squat toilet. The other is a western style toilet with bowl and a place to sit. Flush toilets are often only found in affluent areas of developing countries.